Wedding bells ring for MSC and BBC – but Don’t Tell The Bride

Don’t Tell The Bride … but she’s going to get married on board a cruise ship, on prime time TV.

The hit television series is transferring from BBC3 to BBC1 later this month, and a wedding on board MSC Lirica will be the third of six hour-long episodes to be broadcast.

The production team joined Manchester-based entertainer Mark Kelly on the ship last September, as he prepared a theatrical wedding to sweetheart Kelly Roughley.

The couple are no strangers to radio or television. They work together as presenters, actors, singers, a magician/illusionist duo, and children’s entertainers. They used to host the drive time show together on Salford City Radio and spent two weeks on Channel 4’s Coach Trip last year. Kelly has worked on cruise ships, but Mark had never been to sea before. Although he thought a cruise ship wedding would be ideal, Kelly had her sights set on something more traditional and had no idea what was in store.

Giles Hawke, MSC Cruises’ executive director for the UK and Ireland, said the show would introduce the brand to a new audience of younger, fun-loving potential clients.

“Don’t Tell The Bride has become a real cult classic and attracts fantastic viewing figures. The fact that it is switching to a primetime spot on BBC1 demonstrates how popular it has become,” he said.

“We decided to take part because we have the utmost confidence in our onboard events teams and knew the staff on MSC Lirica would be able to handle any of the requests thrown at them. The programme highlights what a great job they do and what a great alternative wedding venue an MSC Cruises ship can be.”

MSC Cruises offers three different types of wedding packages – silver, gold and platinum – which all include the services of a dedicated wedding planner. The planners work with couples to handle all the details of organising the wedding; packages include options for everything from photography and video, music, fresh flowers, food and drink, and a cake.

To mark the occasion MSC Cruises is planning a wedding-themed party and live screening of the show at a central London venue.

The new series of Don’t Tell The Bride begins on BBC1 on June 24. The cruise ship episode will be broadcast on 8 July at 8.00pm.